New Cluster Sparked In Perak After Sabah Returnee Skipped KLIA Health Screening
Authorities only found out when he developed Covid-19 symptoms three days later.
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A 65-year-old man returning from Sabah managed to walk out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) without a wristband or an order to home quarantine. This sparked the Bah Bercham Cluster in Perak.
According to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the authorities only realised the problem when he went to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms three days later. He was confirmed Covid-19 positive on 13 November in Kinta, Perak.
How did this happen?
It turns out that the man skipped the health screening counters at KLIA and travelled home.
By right, in such cases, the individual should then go to the HSO (home-surveillance order) counter to be given the quarantine wristband. However, instead, he managed to just walk out.
Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Health Director-General.
KLIA health screening procedures require all arrivals from Sabah to be registered at a counter where they will be given a wristband and a Home Surveillance Order (HSO) for 14-days home quarantine.
(Credit: Aizat Zahar)
The man had also taken a Covid-19 test in Sabah three days before flying to Peninsular Malaysia, which came back negative.
This could be a reason why the individual thought he did not need to go to the counter at the airport.
Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Health Director-General.
Following this incident, the Health DG said that procedures at KLIA are being tightened while the authorities are investigating how the man managed to walk out of the airport without going through the HSO counter.
Perak’s new cluster
Because of this error, four of the man’s social contacts tested positive for the virus, leading to the new Bah Bercham cluster in Kinta, Perak.
This cluster currently has 5 positive infections with 137 close contacts screened.
4 kluster baharu dilaporkan membabitkan 110 kes baharu positif COVID-19.
— KKMalaysia🇲🇾 (@KKMPutrajaya) November 19, 2020
Kesemua kluster masing-masing dilaporkan di Selangor, KL, Perak dan Johor.#kkm pic.twitter.com/Ir2LBNEcy9
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